Creating an Exceptional Homepage Experience for The National Association of Home Builders
Overview
The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) is an organization dedicated to building a network of craftsmen, innovators, and problem solvers dedicated to the building industry. Founded in the early 1940s, NAHB has served as an advocate for the housing industry and a provider of opportunities for individuals and organizations seeking to network, build expertise, and gain a competitive advantage. Today, NAHB represents over 700 associations and 140,000 members across the United States, making it one of the largest trade organizations in the country.
The central hub of NAHB’s network is its website at nahb.org, where users can access industry news, professional development opportunities, register for conferences and more. With over a hundred thousand users hitting the site every month, NAHB needed to ensure a seamless user journey for members and prospects alike. However, their website—specifically, their highly-visited homepage—had not been refreshed since 2020. This made attracting new members today—and retaining current members—a challenge. That’s where Velir came in.
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Challenge
The National Association of Home Builders has big plans for their site, with a complete redesign starting in 2026. However, they could not afford to delay an update to their homepage, News landing page, and global elements. They needed to modernize the site's look and experience, improve usability and accessibility, optimize navigation, and enhance engagement and micro-interaction opportunities.
As a long-term partner to NAHB, Velir audited the NAHB site, researched the latest design best practices, and recommended over 20 design and usability updates for the site refresh. NAHB selected the top eight updates to improve the site’s design and user homepage experience.
NAHB’s challenges included:
- Modernize the site styles - The homepage had not been updated in five years and didn’t align with modern design standards.
- Improve page dynamics - Site analytics suggested that the site was too static to keep users coming back for more.
- Increase usability - Existing CMS components were unable to address changing users' needs.
Approach
The project took place in three phases: discovery, design and implementation. First, we interviewed key stakeholders about what was working (and what wasn’t) on their site. From there, we conducted a deep dive into the design of the website, focusing on usability, accessibility, and aesthetics. We compiled our findings into a report, along with prioritized recommendations, to bring the NAHB homepage, other key pages and global elements up to modern standards.
After a round of feedback, it was time for the rubber to hit the road. In the implementation phase, we built and launched new components for the homepage, including carousel heroes and other new features, designed to improve the user experience across desktop and mobile devices.
Our approach included:
- Stakeholder interviews: Gather details on performance issues, opportunities, and needs directly from the source.
- Research and assessment: Identify modern best-in-class design principles and elements that fit the NAHB brand and its needs.
- Build and launch: Compile recommendations and feedback into a plan of action and push the design updates live.
“Helping NAHB evolve its homepage and other key areas of the site has been rewarding and will benefit the organization until the site redesign launches in the next year or so.”
Solution
Velir and NAHB teamed up to develop and launch a new dynamic homepage experience that increased the usability of the site, increased engagement on the home and interior pages. They better positioned the NAHB brand’s value to prospective and at-risk members. New visual components, modern interactive elements, and more eye-catching calls to action were introduced that improved the overall user experience of the site.
NAHB’s homepage overhaul allowed them to provide a modern and engaging experience to its users while the larger process of re-platforming to Sitecore XM Cloud progresses.
Results
- Improved usability: Users can more easily find content and take action quickly.
- More engaging elements: New carousel heroes and megamenus allow NAHB to convey high-priority messages in prime page real estate.
- Better branding: Updated styling better reflects the NAHB brand as the complete site redesign progresses.
- Optimized user experience: Updates help reduce member churn and boost engagement.